[4] The new company's work included commercial vehicles, a specialty being the construction of firetruck bodies on truck frames produced by Delahaye.

Jean, an admirer of great Parisian designers Chapron and Figoni, worked on honing his own skills by attending evening classes taught by these men.

The cars were built by the small French firm of Deutsch-Bonnet with aluminum bodywork by Chappe et Gessalin.

Using resins and techniques imported from the United States they started producing lightweight automobile bodies for sportscars and racing cars from a succession of independent fabricators and small manufacturers.

[14] For Charles Deutsch Chappe et Gessalin produced the body of the Panhard-powered racing CDs and built 160 of the Panhard CD road cars.

[3] A Renault concessionaire named Charles Escoffier saw the car and contacted his son-in-law, Jean Rédélé.

While there were already the skills in-house to do the styling and mechanical design of an entire car as well as produce the bodywork and chassis, they would need to source engines, transmissions, suspension parts, brakes and associated trim.

[22] With Renault committed to Alpine and with Peugeot and Citroën (with Panhard) declining to participate, Automobiles CG turned to the Simca company and their pool of production mechanical components to supply its needs.

Called the 1000 Spider, it was a small rear-engined convertible with a 2+2 fiberglass body that used powertrain and suspension components from the Simca 1000.

[12][24] Since Jean Gessalin had designed what would become the very first Alpine, it was no surprise that the first CG bore a strong resemblance to its cousin from Dieppe, right down to the exposed hinges on the car.

CG later offered a high-performance version of the same engine that had been tuned by Michel Tapie from Rodez with power boosted by 50 percent to 58.9 kilowatts (79.0 hp).

It is during the time that the 1200S was being built that CG began to collaborate with Chrysler Europe (via the Simca division in France) in sportscar racing and rallying.

[26] The designer of the emblem was Albert Uderzo, who is primarily known as the artist responsible for the Astérix comic series.

The compact convertible had a fiberglass body mounted on a steel chassis with a deep "U" centre backbone and tube-and-sheetmetal outriggers.

It was mounted in the rear of the car, canted over at 15 degrees from vertical and drove the wheels through a 4-speed transaxle that used Porsche-style synchronizers.

[5] To bring the price down from that of the 1000 Spider, the roll-up glass windows were replaced by plastic sliders, the bumpers and hubcaps were removed, the dashboard was painted rather than covered and the seats were simple fibreglass tubs, changes which also brought the weight down to 600 kg.

Trim on the 1000S was similar to the original 1000 Spider, but the engine displaced 1,118 cc (68.2 cu in) and produced 36.5 kW (49 hp).

By upgrading to the engine from the Simca 1200 S coupé, CG was finally able to offer a sports car with performance comparable to the Alpine A110.

Rack-and-pinion steering replaced the old Gemmer system and anti-roll bars were added front and rear.

There was also a new rear axle with dual movable joints as found on the B-series Simcas, allowing for negative camber setup.

The bodywork was thinner than normal, all glass was replaced with acrylic or plexiglass deflectors, the bumperettes were removed and the gas filler neck was relocated.

The air intake at the front was larger than on the 1200S, and a large mesh opening in the rear allowed engine heat to escape.

The car, only available as a coupé, had a new lower front valance with a spoiler and an even larger air intake for the radiator.

In France, Prime Minister Pierre Messmer announced national speed-limits and, most devastatingly, a one-year ban on motor-racing.

[35] Towards the end of the year CG agreed to collaborate with the Simca division of Chrysler Europe in a new venture to be called Simca-CG.

Although some histories say that the Proto MC's chassis was designed by Matra, there is little concrete evidence for the company's direct involvement.

Later spiders would have as much as 200 mm (7.9 in) cut from their length, and one car was built with a truncated cabin that gave it the appearance of a small truck.

Its first race was on August 8, 1970 at Mont-Dore, and the car's first Championship win was at the 1970 Critérium des Cévennes, with Gérard Larrousse driving.

In April 1973, Simca Chrysler dissolved the competition department, leaving only Matra Sports to continue in Sports-Prototypes racing.

In 2012, with the approval of Jean Gessalin and support from Bernard Chappe, Didier Malga launched "CG Sport", an attempt to revive the brand as a competition group.